Page 17

WREN

Rage clogged the air, clawing at my emotional shields. It was almost more than I could take, even after reinforcing the barriers with everything I had. But that’s what happened when you put five supremely pissed-off shifters in a tiny space.

I crossed the length of The Lair to the door I knew led outside. I knew it only because I’d seen it from the outside. Locke had covered the glass panes with some sort of blackout covering inside. The only light was the artificial kind.

But I needed the fading sun and some fresh air, anything to clear away the emotions battering me. I reached for the door handle, but a voice whipped out.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ender barked.

I turned slowly, glaring at the grumpy man. My fingers curled around the handle. “Opening the door.”

The glass-paned wood swung open as if to punctuate my point, and Ender scowled at me. “It’s not safe,” he ground out.

“You cleared the property yourselves. You know there are no intruders, and all this”—I gestured wildly around the room—“alpha male fury is giving me a headache.”

I shouldn’t have given him even that. It could hint at my empathic abilities. But plenty of wolves were sensitive to others’ energies, especially submissives.

I breathed a little deeper the moment the fresh air hit me. I wanted to step fully into it and get some distance from the men and their anger, but I knew my mates wouldn’t like that.

Ender growled.

“Give her a minute,” Kingston ordered. “This would be a lot for anyone.”

Shock pricked at my skin. If anyone defended me, I’d have expected Locke or maybe Puck. But Locke was currently ensnared in a battle with the countless cameras he’d put on the property, trying to locate an angle where he could see the intruder’s face. And Puck was pacing back and forth behind him.

“Thanks,” I muttered, dropping my gaze and letting the fresh breeze wash over me. I couldn’t hold King’s eyes. It hurt too much. Because I missed him and didn’t know how to close the gap between us. Didn’t know if I should even want to. Because the truth was, he could hurt me all over again.

Our circumstances hadn’t changed. I still had Bastian Boudreaux’s blood running through my veins, and Kingston had still lost his sister to my father’s vile evil. I wasn’t sure that was something we could ever get past.

“Then I should walk the perimeter,” Ender ground out.

“I’d think you’d be thrilled if a sniper got a shot off at me,” I spat.

Something flashed in Ender’s amber eyes, but he covered it with indifference so quickly I didn’t have a chance to identify it. “Getting your blood out of Locke’s carpet would really be a nightmare,” he clipped.

That was more like the Ender I knew.

Princess let out a bossy meow, nipping at my heels as if trying to herd me back into the room. “Hey,” I protested.

Ender’s lips twitched.

I glared at him. “Did you tell her to do that? Do you have some sort of mind-meld with her?”

Ender lifted both hands in surrender. “Princess does what she wants.”

I knew that much was true. I bent down and picked her up. “Enough with the biting. I’m fine.”

She let out a meow that almost sounded like a bark.

“Okay, okay.” I stepped deeper into The Lair but stayed in the line of the breeze, hoping it would help.

The rapid-fire typing stopped. “I got something,” Locke said, his voice tight.

Everyone moved in behind him so we could see the screens.

There was a shot of the man from behind on the left monitor.

Something about him tickled the back of my brain, but not enough to shake anything loose.

On the right screen was a map where Locke had tracked the man’s path.

But a close-up of a face was on the center display.

It was slightly pixelated, but I could make out enough. I sucked in a breath.

Every head in the room turned to me, even Princess’s.

But I couldn’t tear my gaze from the image. “I-I know him. I mean, I’ve seen him before. He was in the bar today.”

A sea of growls lit the air.

“I want an ID. Now ,” Kingston snarled.

Locke’s fingers flew again. “I’m not sure the photo’s good enough to run it through my software, but I’ll try to clean it up.”

“Whoever he is, he was smart enough to stay far away from the cameras, limiting what we could get.” Ender’s voice held no emotion at all. It was cold—just like the rest of him.

Puck’s gaze stayed locked on me. “I remember him. Did he speak to you?”

I shook my head. “Dina had his table. He left not long after we got there. I caught him looking at me but convinced myself it was just because we were making a scene.” I should’ve known better. I knew to always be careful when someone tripped my radar.

But I had to admit the truth. I didn’t want to run. Despite the rejection still stinging, I didn’t want to leave Crescent Creek. Didn’t want to leave the men who’d come to mean so much to me. Didn’t want to leave my friends and the place that had become home.

I hadn’t felt like somewhere was home…ever. Because even when I still had my mom, we ran every few months, constantly starting over and inventing new identities. I was so tired of it. I wanted a place where I belonged and people truly knew me.

But that came with risks. Like the one before us now.

Brix’s lip curled as he leaned closer to the monitor with the map. “Look at the path he took. He’s making his way along the entire eastern perimeter. He’s looking for weaknesses in our defenses.”

Which meant one thing.

Someone was prepping for an attack.